Committee recomends unchanged fines for five offences

The committee appointed to look into the revision of traffic fines, headed by Secretary to the Ministry of Transport, Nihal Somaweera will meet the Secretary to the President, P.B. Abeykoon this week to discuss the progress of the report submitted to the President.

According to the Chairman of the National Road Safety Council, Dr. Sisira Kodagoda the report including the proposed amendments to existing traffic fines was submitted to President Maithripala Sirisena recently.

The final report was compiled by the committee following several meetings with private transport unions, he said, adding that the proposal to impose a fine of Rs. 25,000 for five offences including drunk driving driving without a valid licence and insurance, driving across level crossings as well as assigning someone without a valid licence to drive a vehicle have been left unchanged.

However, according to Dr. Kodagoda, the committee in its report has suggested that the fine for overtaking from the left, should not be increased due to the requests made by the private bus unions.

Meanwhile, the report has also proposed that fines for speeding to be imposed according to the speed by which the limit has been exceeded.

¨For example, if the speed limit is 70 kmph and a vehicle is found to be travelling at over 90 kmph, the driver will be fined more than a vehicle travelling at 80 kmph,¨ Dr. Kodagoda explained.

The committee comprising of Secretary to the Ministry of Transport Nihal Somaweera, Secretary to the Ministry of Finance, Dr. R.H.S. Samaratunga, Senior DIG for Traffic Administration and Road Safety, Nandana Munasinghe along with a nominated senior official of the Attorney General’s Department, Department of Motor Traffic and an Additional Secretary to the President was

appointed in December 2016 by President Sirisena following several strikes by bus unions against the proposed fine of Rs. 25,000 for seven serious traffic offences.

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